Kuwait's
Oil History:
The Kuwait, desert, has long stood witness to several strange
black patches of a rough bituminous substance, but not until the
matter was investigated in - 1935did it become apparent that the
wealth of Kuwait had-remained underground for years and was yet
t 0be discovered.
An oil concession was granted to the former Kuwait Oil Company
Limited; a-joint venture between the Gulf Oil Corporation (presently
Chevron Oil) and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (presently British
Petroleum) on December23 rd,1934 :
On June1 st,1935 , a technical
study that was carried out by Cox and Rhoades titled, Report on
the Geology and- Oil Prospects of Kuwait Territory, heralded the
-discovery of oil. Geological surveys were carried out and the
Company drilled in the Burgan area through 1937 and early1938
.
Oil was discovered in the Burgan field on February22 nd,1938 .
With the onset of- World War Il, Burgan's development was interrupted
and commercial production did not, begin until June30 ,1946 ,
when H.H. the late Sheikh Ahmad AI-caber AI-Sabah turned a silver
wheel to start Kuwait's first crude oil export through an offshore
pipeline to the tanker British Fusilier.
On March5 th,1975 , the State of Kuwait and the two foreign oil
companies (that had held the State's oil concession far 41 years,)
British Petroleum and Gulf Oil, signed an agreement that gave
Kuwait complete control of its oil resources. The agreement came
into effect on December6 th, 1975 and the nationalization of Kuwait's
oil industry began a new era in its history.
In 1980 Kuwait's oil industry was revolutionized when the four
state-owned companies responsible for the country's oil production,
refining and transport came under the control, of Kuwait Petroleum
Corporation (KPC); a new independent entity formed to safeguard
and- promote Kuwait's oil' interests through integrated planning,
financing, purchasing and marketing systems.
